Impressions - August 2013 - (Page 50)

talking SHOP Screen Printing Production How To Improve Your Screen Making Efﬁciency Use these tips to save time and money in your screen-making department. By Greg Kitson, Contributing Writer One of a screen print shop’s biggest challenges is keeping it free from lint. If not cleaned regularly, these annoying ﬂuffy ﬁbers land on areas covered with adhesive or grease and stick there. Photo courtesy of Mind’s Eye Graphics, Decatur, Ind. and lubricants were used to clean screens. Some of these everyday products may remove rubber cement from clothing, but they should not be used to remove plastisol ink from mesh. Printers who use these methods don’t realize the host of problems created by using products not intended for the purpose of screen making and cleaning. Although a product may cost more, it often either accelerates the process or eliminates downtime later in production. At the end of the day, what you save in time more than makes up for the higher cost. When choosing products to make and clean screens, ﬁrst ﬁnd out what questions you should ask and then talk to a variety of screen printing suppliers about the products that are best for you. Then, make sure you use them properly. CLEANING HOUSE a fter more than 30 years as a screen printer, I’ve observed that the average shop is more of a screen maker than a screen printer. If you have ever taken the time to add the total amount of time and money invested in making screens, you may agree with me. This is why your screen making department can make or break you. If your shop is not efﬁcient at making screens, you most likely are losing proﬁts without even realizing it. And even in well-run, 50 Impressions | August 2013 successful operations, there’s always room for improvement. I think many shops spend way too much time making and cleaning screens. Here are some tips that may help you save time and money. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR If you’re trying to reduce screen making costs, one of your last options should be buying cheap products and materials. I’ve visited countless shops where mineral spirits While an apparel screen printer technically can be termed a value-added reseller, I contend that what we really manufacture is lint. If you print T-shirts, there is no avoiding the ton of ﬂuffy ﬁbers that are ﬂoating around your shop and landing on the ﬂoor, walls and your equipment. If these areas are covered with adhesive and grease, those ﬁbers will stick there. If you do not regularly clean all surfaces of lint, where does it go? Typically, it lands in your freshly coated emulsion where it creates a pinhole that shows up after you wash out your exposed screen. impressionsmag.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - August 2013

Impressions - August 2013
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
Product Gallery
ISS Conferences
Digital Printing Opens New Doors
Feel-Good Fleece
10 Reasons Start-Up Decorators Fail
Shop Spotlight
Shop Spotlight
Embroidery Technique
Embroidery Production
Screen Printing Production
Screen Printing Technique
Online Directory
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - August 2013